ORIGINAL: ryanpilot
I am really suprised by Piper Chuck though. It sounds that he is trying to defend a less safe method of starting an engine. If I were a betting man I would say that Chuck, considering he indicated that he has been doing this a long time, has got a finger or thumb smacked by a prop during start up. Glow engines sometimes back fire and or partially fire during start up and HICCUP. No man is faster than a prop going opposit the way of the finger flipping it.
Nope, haven't had a finger smacked. I've not said once during this thread whether I start by "finger flipping it", or with a chicken stick. It's been quite amusing to see those in the electric starter camp jump to conclusions about what I do in their attempts to use safety to justify their personal preference.
Now if by some luck he has not got a finger smacked he certainally knows people that have. The main reported injuries he is referring to are the result of claims filed due to the severity of an injury from a prop strike! No one gives specific details to report regarding the black and blue nails and brused knuckles.
I'll humor you on this one for a second. Tell me how a right handed person gets a "black and blue nail" or "bruised knuckle" if the prop is "going opposit the way of the finger flipping it"? Think about it for a second, it can't happen. Just as it can't happen to someone using a chicken stick.
I would bet that Chuck stands in fornt of his plane and reaches arround the prop while engine is running to do adjustments and or removing glow driver. How hard is it to realize that a $50.00 investment in a starter could reduce the odds of a very costly emergency room visit (not to say the least loosing a finger of having major ligiment/tendon damage). Is is just simple insurance. We are past the days of bravado, we should all be concerned foremost about our personal safety.
Sigh, I didn't think you'd sink to tactics such as ad hominem to attempt to prove your false claim that starters are inherently safer than hand starting. You shouldn't bet, you would have lost twice in this one post. High speed engine adjustments are always made while I am behind the engine. Tach readings are also taken from behind the spinning prop. Idle mixture adjustments are made with the engine NOT running because the risk of having the screw driver slip and hit the prop is too high. Glow connection is only removed from the plane while I have a firm grip on the plane because the metal to metal connection sometimes causes radio jitter, which could cause a short blip in the throttle. But anyway, your comments about safety techniques AFTER starting have NOTHING to do with whether hand starting or electric starters are safer.
I hand start my engines because I find it easier, because I don't want the extra weight of an electric starter in my flight box, because I personally don't like the look of the rubber ring on the spinner, and because a starter offers no safety advantage over proper hand starting technique. This is my PREFERENCE. If you prefer to use a starter, that's fine.